I still want to know why my website, http://www.keyhypnotherapy.co.uk , is scoring 10 on the quackometer. I have responded to your questions but you have not yet let me know what is unacceptable.

It is important to me that I do not mislead people and therefore I am asking for your help and advice. If you cannot, in all honesty, find real flaws in the information on my website, then it is incumbent upon you as a scientist to acknowledge that the quackometer is not always a reliable measure of quackery.

If you can find anything that is truly objectionable I will review it and change it as appropriate.

I really do applaud what you are trying to do but it distresses me that I still seem to fall into the 10 canard category.

Maybe you don’t need one; believe me, I don’t need one; I have it down, and I don’t need anyone to back me up. He is right about Rudolph Steiner; what a crock! I lived it; I paid for it; and nothing good will ever become of it.

Jenny – leaving aside how the quackometer works – your site makes all sorts of – well – optimistic claims for hypnotherapy. For all the claims you make, could you back them up with quality research? Asthma? Diarrhoea?

Yes, Alan is right, Andy has his own definitions for everything. You cant please him, you can only disagree. He is just a Nerd living at his parent’s house trolling people around all day long (while our tax payer money is given to him – he is def on benefits) he probably drinks and smokes (the bad stuff too). His logic doesn’t sound right.

So the British medical journal did a study on the Alexander technique and showed that it was effective for back pain in the majority of cases. Your website bases its concusion on the terms presented on one specific website, as they are used “out of place”.

Do you see the hypocrisy in your methodology?

Anyway, I will take the peer reviewed journal’s opinion over your own.

People like you are always so quick to judge others. Why anyone should EVER hold any stock in what YOU have to say? I will pray for you. I’m sorry… I forgot. You probably don’t believe in that either. I will pary anyway.

Mr Andy Lewis, if thats your real name, The MHRA have made A STATEMENT IN PUBLIC THAT TRIAMAZON IS SAFE AND A VIABLE ANTI-CANCER THERAPY
As we speak i have instructed a private investigater on my behalf to locate any and all property you have registered at HM Land Registry, now get your lies about triamazon and me off the www or suffer a legal charge placed on your home via a private detective for Liable and Slander, if your shit and lies are not removed within 28 days of this notice allowing you to put the record straight then i will personally be knocking on your front door one day soon.Do not make the mistake of taking me for a prick… THIS IS YOUR VERY LAST CHANCE TO PUT THE RECORD STRAIGHT, Andrew Harris Founder of Triamazon.com
Andrew Harris www.

Hello Andrew! Hope you’re well ! Any upshot from your rather nasty threats? What’s your evidence for the lies you talked about? Did you post the MHRA statement previously requested? If so I must have missed it.

I claim that hypnotherapy can be immensely helpful in dealing with the underlying emotional issues that may exacerbate physical symptoms. Presumably you will agree that an asthma attack can be triggered by anxiety and distress? If clients learn techniques to lessen their anxiety and calm their breathing and also to deal with the underlying triggers for fearful feelings, they empower themselves to manage their condition alongside treatment from GP or hospital doctors.

I also said that it is a shame there has not been any quality research to back up my claims and that I would be more than willing to enter into a research programme should the opportunity present itself. I have begun asking clients to complete the NHS HPQ9 form before, after and 6 months down the line to audit the efficacy of my work. As a single handed practitioner it will take some time to collate sufficient information though I am encouraging other hypnotherapists to do this as well.

I make no unreasonable claims and clients understand that I am a facilitator who can enable them to work toward the changes they desire. I feel a real responsibility to clients and could not continue if I failed to see a high response rate. All I can do is work with the evidence my experience has supplied and this is undeniably anecdotal until some serious research has been done.

Perhaps I just have to bite on the bullet and accept my 10 canards until someone is willing to fund some good research and hypnotherapy is fully integrated into the NHS.

I will stop hassling you now as I really do admire what you are doing.

More of same, a critical site of self importance with little intent beyond suppression of opinions it disagrees with. Read the results of Quackwatch.com in the US, it didn’t end well for the proponent of that site.

Disagreeing with Homeopathy is neither here nor there in the scheme of things. Most of allopathic medicine, in counterpoint, merely ameliorates symptoms in chronic conditions. Cures for cancer are the exceptions rather than the rule. Much vaunted “cures” in medicine are found, over time, to be less than helpful in so many cases. The number of drugs withdrawn after gross side effects were “discovered” by “scientists” tends to suggest not all is in order in the world of medicine. Most who practice medicine are aware of the art of being a physician, it isn’t all science…. far from it.

The Quackometer clearly doesn’t fare well, inter alia, for hypnotists, this isn’t surprising. Those hypnotists who submit their sites to assessment by quackometer won’t be satisfied with the results. Any clinical method that doesn’t pass muster with the authority of the quackometer will be most unlikely to be approved. Just accept it for what it is. The author of Quackometer has his opinion and that is that. The method is opinion not science. Ironic really! Trust your patients and clients, if your results are good why worry about approval of petty authorities.

Keeping libel laws out of science…why? If science is so packed full of truth why worry about libel laws? The truth here is that proponents of sites, such as this one, fear that they may one day be called to defend what isn’t so easy in truth to defend. One, fortunately, doesn’t need to fear keeping libel laws out of science, none of those who propose such an idea have much chance of the law changing; however they may wish it.

My displeasure with this site is its mean spiritedness and self-righteousness. My wife died from a severe case of breast cancer, I saw firsthand the positive effects of hypnosis in ameliorating severe pain. For me those who set themselves up as an “authority” should be careful not to close doors to alternatives however distasteful to their palate.

Out of alternatives come new ways to understand and treat disease. Suppression of other opinions by ridicule isn’t beneficial.

Defunding alternative healing from the NHS will in the long run have unintended consequences, such as collapse of the whole system already creaking at the seams. Attacking alternative methods might seem a good idea, though politically naïve, such defunding may create a constituency of opponents you don’t need if you wish the NHS to survive.

Anger is the motivation behind this site, beware anger can and does lead to pathology for those who live by it and indulge in it. My wife’s passing made me angry and I was duly punished with IBS, later controlled not by allopathic medicine but by natural healing.

“Most of allopathic medicine, in counterpoint, merely ameliorates symptoms in chronic conditions. Cures for cancer are the exceptions rather than the rule. Much vaunted “cures” in medicine are found, over time, to be less than helpful in so many cases.”

Well, and the “alternatives”, from Homeopathy to Reiki, simply don’t do anything, except delaying actual treatment. Sometimes until it’s too late. And costing you precious time and money. Sometimes a whole bunch more than you can afford. Oh wait, and sometimes the stuff can just outright kill you. Remember the toxic chinese herbs, for sale high street “all natural pretend-pharmacies”?

All without proven benefit except the good conscience of “sticking it to the evil medical system”.

And, for real, Irritable bowel syndrome? Have you tried taking a vacation, a calming walk on the beach or in the mountains? Just anything to get your mind off your loss? If it had worked, would that now make “walking” an “alternative medicine”?

Howard: having stumbled across this rather pathetic site in my random surfings, I was about to write a somewhat similar response to your own, but I shouldn’t have come close to your brevity and eloquence. Well done. I agree: the driving force behind “Quackometer” is clearly anger and petty-mindedness, along with a stubborn refusal to accept anything at all that doesn’t tie in with the proponent’s
own beliefs. As you say, quite ironic…

Well, you’re absolutely correct. The author of Quackwatch, ‘Dr.’ Stephen Barrett, most certainly has an opinion. In fact, he has plenty of them. Which may possibly to some extent ameliorate the embarrassing fact that he DOESN’T have a psychiatric doctorate, as he had claimed. His mindless beligerence in offending others landed him in court once too often, this time against an adversary who wasn’t afraid to go for the jugular and check out a little about Barrett’s background. Turns out, the fool failed the final psychiatry board exam, but decided to present himself as though he’d passed. For upwards of about 20 years. Hoist, one may say,
by his own petard…

Mr. Lewis,
I haven’t read enough of your personal quackery to see how much research or personal experience you’ve had with alternative, complementary, or holistic medicine. As a published neuroscientist (my work was funded by the almighty NIH) I am sick and tired of ignoramouses (don’t care if it’s not a word) such as yourself taking up precious webspace. Let people do their own research and educate themselves. Unfortunately some of your previous respondents are correct! Big Pharma loves you and you are probably employed by them, maybe you could tell us more about why you are so sure of big pharma because I’m stuck at Children’s Hospital watching my daughter suffer due to a poison filled vaccine that gave her a disease that I had to diagnose as her physician had no idea and was too busy catering to his “drug dealers” to even refer her. Also, if you need to read up on Einstein and Newton as I don’t believe you understand what “psudoscience” is. Adele

Hi Adele and thank you for taking the time to comment on my blog. You say you have not read enough of my blog to see how much research I have done. Perhaps you would like to before jumping to conclusions about me. Once you have done that, if you find errors in my work, I would be more than happy to address them.

You’re right, there is no such word as ‘ignoramouse’. But it’s such a lovely, sweet word that I intend to start using it right now. As to the outrageous claims that people of your type make about your opponents being in the pay of your ‘Big Pharma’, and catering to their ‘drug dealers’ -I really think you should be in Court. One point where I do agree with you- if more people did as you suggested, and did their own research and educated themselves, and homeopaths all treated one another, instead of using proper medicine, then maybe there’d be far fewer of your type left alive bothering the rest of us.

2. The fact that no one has taken the Quackery Test is proof that no “quacks” exist. Listen to this COURT PROOF:

In 1963 the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA) formed its Committee on Quackery (“Committee”). The Committee worked diligently to eliminate chiropractic. A primary method to achieve this goal was to make it unethical for American medical physicians to professionally associate with American chiropractors. Under former Principle 3, it was unethical for American medical physicians to associate with “unscientific practitioners.” In 1966, the AMA’s House of Delegates passed a resolution labelling chiropractic an unscientific cult.

On September 25, 1987, U.S. Federal Judge Getzendanner issued AN opinion that the AMA violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, and that it had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession.” (Wilk v. American Medical Ass’n, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987). The Court issued a permanent injunction against the AMA.

Keep up the good work Andy. Hopefully one day Governments will do something about all this homeopathy rubbish. Strict controls need to be put into place and only certain treatments should be approved. Herbal treatments at least have a basis in reality but ground up stones and fossils should be outlawed along with the bad, biased medical advice these Homeopaths seem to provide along with their potions.

See the thought police in evidence. Dr. Peverley will clearly have never seen any adverse reactions to “drugs” then. Never had cases where they did not work. Comments like this from doctors who are supposedly open minded make me angry. If you looked, and Lindy Williams too, you would see positive outcomes, but they would require you to take off your blinkers. Oliver Dowding, organic farmer Shepton Farms

I went to see Jenny last year, as an absolute last resort, for some problems that I’d been having. My problems were serious enough to be a very real threat to my health and wellbeing. Doctors and endless specialists had been unable to help me and I was at the end of my tether. Hence, I decided to try hypnosis.
It is no exaggeration to state that Jenny Lineham was able to sort out for me what many other medical professionals had tried but failed to do.
I can’t claim to begin to understand how hypnotherapy helped me. I’m just glad that is did!

Wow, I just discovered that the UK has its own little Stephen Barrett (the quackwatch.com clown).

Clearly some wounded scared chap who is now dedicating his energy to fighting against things he opposes rather than growing or supporting something he believes in.

It’s so easy to criticise and attack Andy, but so much more challenging to promote something you actually believe in.

All you are doing if feeding fear and promoting it. Notice that your entire website is based upon fear. Do you see that? Probably not. I notice that you don’t advise your readers on a recommended alternative to the alternative methods you are labelling as quackery. So all you are doing is pointing and criticising from a hidden distance. This is fear in action.

Is this really what you want to be remembered for?

I recommend some EFT/NLP/hypnotherapy sessions to release that underlying anger/fear/sadness in you and then find some peace in your life. (I’m guessing you were badly bullied at school or by your guardians, and that this website is some form of emotional ‘retribution’ for all that pain)

There is hope for your heart to open and forgive, everything is possible as there are some excellent therapies now available.

The opposition in favour of the homeopathy scam appear the ones in fear here. Please, forgive me, but the surge of criticism of this website almost illustrates to me a sense of “caught red handed”, which one could interpret as desperate pleas as their time is running out.

Time to cash in the homeopathy shares i feel… hahahah.

All the best Andy.

A doctor once asked me if i had ever received (i think received is a little benign….. victim of, i would have said) homeopathy treatment.

Mark – I drink water – I am also alive and healthy! You’re right – obviously I’ve been benefitting from homeopathic treatment without realizing it! Obviously we need free water on the NHS! (I’ll borrow your story if I may :))

Andy, you may want to have a peek at John Benneth latest blog, I seem to have rattled him, so much so that he is now moderating replies.
Its tedious I know but I have time on my hands and don’t mind poking Mr Benneth.

I’d like to know if you’ve had the (mis)fortune to visit the VortexHealing site (http://vortexhealing.org/). I’m sure the site will score very high in your scale. They have all the stuff: chakras, meridians, karma, past lives, divine energy, you name it. Here’s a nugget:

quote:
At just the Basic level, the student receives transmissions that enable the channeling of 49 forms of Vortex energy and the consciousness of a divine healing realm. With these, the meridian system can be cleared and harmonized, ‘karma knots’—which are a core support for karmic & emotional issues—can be cleared, and deep clearings can be done through the various energetic bodies, chakras and physical tissues, and the system as a whole can be deeply energized. After the second class, the healer is able to bridge deeply enough into physicality to transform, for example, the sound of musical instruments, improving their sound quality—in less than a minute. At the deeper levels of VortexHealing, the very roots of emotional conditioning and identity, including genetic conditioning, can be transformed.

I see people coming here, trying to get this shoddilly coded quackometer to remove them or ‘IMPROVE’ the rating the second rate software and author has given them, my advice to those people would be, do not worry about it, because if you are legitimate or not this site will never be able to discern as much because ALL it does is some very simple and flawed tests for keywords/phrases and perhaps a review by an author who knows less than he would like to admit.

BTW
I actually agree about getting rid/pointing em out quacks and i think homeopathy aswell as a few other choice ‘treatments’ are total BS too, but this site is causing a bit too much collateral damage IMO, and attemtping to assert itself as some sort of online authority with strawman software redefining what a quack is … i.e mentioning ‘Healing’ and ‘energy’ etc = quack? REALLY?

it seems to me you want to wage war against any and every treatment that might be in the ‘Alternative’ category, EVEN if they actually do any good to the patients physically, EVEN if you have ANY or NO clue about it what-so-ever

that’s basically why this site is BS and the code is useless but worse the author seems to try to hold some power over it and the people it goes after without looking at his own site quackery first

OH AND … Richard Dawkins gets a 3 cannard rating, which points out how unscientific this whole piece of crap QUACKOMETER is.

This site NEEDS to be a scalpel going after quacks not a f-kin shotgun, and a BIT of real balance to both sides would actually give more credibility to this site rather than a total smackdown attempt at whomever lands in your sites that day, it makes you look as bad as the creationists, homeopathists, astrologers etc …it’s all just YOUR word

“Looks like you’ve just identified one of the defining characteristics of quacky thinking.”

No shit, that’s my point, if you think ALL it takes is some words to condemn something outright then fine, but you’ve descended into quacks spotting quacks it’s hypocritical and actually not effective is all im saying

“Name one example of an “Alternative” therapy that does “any good.””

try Chiropractry (spelling?)

unless i was supposed to just take pain killers as the doctor(s) prescribed when i couldnt get out of bed,breathe or even stand up straight without being in immense pain, then chiropractry has done good

Lucky for me i knew someone who is a chiropracter, and after 11 days of pain and immobilization he managed to get me standing up straight freely with no pain and all back to normal in ONE session …

he did what the doctors seemed to have no clue about sorting and they could only prescribe me painkillers for the pain, no solutions so that…you know so i could stand up and walk and breathe without pain …no that took a ‘QUACK’ to fix it

For people who are supposed to rely on facts and science you guys here can be just as stubborn/stupid as a creationist who’s been told jesus didn’t ride on the back of a MAGICAL liopleurodon

It’s a pity that ISIS publicise this stuff on their web site: some of their other articles are useful (agriculture, renewable energy etc.). They don’t allow critical comments on their articles at all, even very polite ones (I’ve tried).

Ahh. My feathered friend.
Why do you ask why I ask? Obviously, I ask because I wish to receive a definition of truth.
I do not understand your question “Do you have a problem with the concept…?”. I have no problem understanding that there is a concept that many people label as truth. The concept that truth is a concept does not cause me any problems.
But what is truth?

I am not a dictionary. That is why i ask why you are asking me. Nor am I into word games. So unless you wish to enlighten me as to the nature of your enquiry then I would politely ask you to seek elsewhere for your truth questions.

I am not a dictionary. That is why i ask why you are asking me. Nor am I into word games. So unless you wish to enlighten me as to the nature of your enquiry then I would politely ask you to seek elsewhere for your truth questions. If you wish to ask me about why I think quacks have a problem with truth that might be a more fruitful path.

Like you, I am a devotee of logical thought and its logical expression. When I read or hear an argument being put forward, I examine its logical structure, in order better to appreciate it.

You state, on your “About” page: “What most quacks are guilty off (sic), if anything, is a certain carelessness with the truth.” However, because I do not know what you mean by “the truth”, I cannot appreciate your line of reasoning.

I will therefore rephrase my question. What is “the truth” with which most quacks – if they are guilty of anything – are guilty of treating with a certain carelessness?

A carelessness with the truth stems from what I see in how many quacks treat evidence. Evidence is used to defend prior beliefs. It is never used to challenge beliefs. Evidence that contradicts prior beliefs is ignored. Can you think of any alternative medicine that has been dropped because the evidence showed it was infective?

I would also say that rhetoric is more important than truth. This can be seen in the way that certain arguments are used by quacks for their rhetorical quality long after they have been show to be faulty. Such as “RCTs cannot be performed on homeopathy because it needs to be individualised”, “Animals cannot respond to a placebo effect therefore the fact that I have seen animals get better after XXX proves it is not a placebo.”, “Quantum physics explains XXX… ” and so on…

If you want a full exposition of what I mean by this, I suggest ‘Believing Bullshit’ By Stephen Law for an excellent discussion.

http://universalmedicine.com.au/home
I am curious about this spiritualistic healing group who seem to believe that cancer is the result of someone not living “properly”.
They are big in the UK and are based in Byron Bay, Australia.

I am not sure how you judge people as to just reading their site. I have
studied for 14 years and worked on some very ill people with amazing
results. WHAT I DO IS NON HARMFUL.

I have top doctors coming to see me who certainly understand what I do and
love it. They also send their patients to me. As they believe as well as
I do that it all works very well together.

The remedy I have designed and now sell has been tested by hundreds of
people over three years before launching it. It is also non harmful and
has had amazing results.

Please take me off your site as it is unkind and simply not true. If you
would like me to send you more references then please tell me. I have
dedicated my life to helping other people and its not about money for me.
Its about bringing people into health and awareness. I work hard and
sometimes to the detriment to my health to help people.

Might the ASA be taking a look at Ms Cutler’s website in the near future?

I wonder Ms C, before the ASA write to you, can you see for yourself the claims and statements that will have to be changed. It would be interesting to see you to post your suggestions here and let us have a look.

I find it hard to comprehend why someone with any intelligence would set up a site like this, unless they were heavily conditioned into a particular narrow viewpoint. The site is well designed, but the use of the word ‘Quack’ gives away the narrowness of vision. What is more quack-like than the millions of doctors who get away with pushing pills that either don’t work or have dangerous side-effects? Clearly, I can only imagine that dear Andy Lewis (if he exists …. let us admit, there is not much evidence that he does!), is funded by good old Big Pharma. Otherwise, why such a closed view?

Big Pharma and oncology research has not made much progress in the last 30 – 40 years with their cut, poison, burn standard of care. Whereas, Dr. Burzynski has indeed had a lot of very impressive results.30 – 50% cure rates for childhood brain tumors (survival is best if their brain has not first been fried by radiaton standard of care treatment – which has a less than 1% cure rate and usually they die anyway from the radaiation). Don’t you get it? Big Pharma owns the FDA because they imposed “user fees” in order to get drugs approved quickly – some in as little as 4-6 months without any proof of efficacy. They pay off the FDA to approve new poisons (which is really an alternative treatment if you think about it) so they can keep their trillion dollar cancer treatment industry going. There is way too much to lose by supporting a single doctor with a cure that would put an end to that whole industry. The FDA has been pressuring the Texas Medical Board for many years to try to find some way to put Dr.B. in jail or put him out of business but they can’t seem to find him guilty of
anything. He has been brought to 5 grand juries with no indictments. The NCI tried to steal his patent and didn’t follow the protocols that he has developed and perfected over many years of
research and so they botched the trials they ran and didn’t get good results.The FDA has approved
phase II trials which means the drugs have been shown to be safe and effective. At one of his trials
the prosecution was quoted as saying “the safety and efficacy of antineoplastons is not of issue”.
They were trying to get him on interstate commerce laws and anything they can think
of to put him away. He has been fighting for 20 years. Do you really think he would keep this up for
this long if he wasn’t on the right track. This is a bit elaborate for a scoundrel just trying to swindle
some poor cancer victims. Check out some websites. Burzynskipatientgroup.org and Burzynskiclinic.com. Try to see the documentary “Dr.Burzynski: Cancer is Serious Business”. Maybe
it will shed some light. It’s hard to explain so much in a short message.

Initially, as you can tell if you read my earlier messages, I was rather hacked off that my website scores 10 on the Quackometer. Now, however, I periodically put myself into the Top Ten and my website is visited by more than a few people who find it there.

I like to think of them studying it to find the non-existent flaws and I occasionally get a new client from this exposure.

So… Thanks canard noir for your free publicity! I love the irony.

If anyone really has any beef with anything on my site I am more than happy to be challenged.

P.S. I know that there are some ‘therapists’ out there that are less than effective and even, in some cases, dangerous but beware of throwing out babies in bath water.

Tried to email some feedback just now only to be turned away as probable spam!

I said…

I don’t really understand your pedigree or mission, but if you’re about debunking pseudoscience then why on earth are you including a blog-stream from Holford Myths. They seem to be a straightforward peddler of just the sort of thing you’re trying to debunk – mindless dietary supplements, no evidence-base etc…

Cheers — Richard Rodd

(I have no axe to grind – I jiust stumbled across you and Holford in passing…)

This is clearly where I’m going wrong.
Now that I see the error of my ways I shall order a large shipment of mixed loops forthwith.
Perhaps you could give me the heads up on the finest loop emporiums in the land (quality is of the essence).

Love your site! Good work. Lot of quacks, and charlatans out there peddling their “cures”, crying BIG PHARMA at every doubt that is brought forward about their supposed alternatives. Just like Jenny McCarthy and her anti vaccine crusade. She claims that vaccines caused her child to develop autism. She also claims to have “cured” her child of autism through alternative therapies. Her credentials? She is a multiple time Playboy nude model, and was married to some celebrity. Yet she has influenced countless thousands of parents in the USA to not vaccinate their children. This has endangered, sickened, and even caused the deaths of children, because they were sickened by diseases that they should not have had. And, has caused outbreaks of diseases that were well controlled. I worked in the medical profession for 30 years as an RN. I had a great, and rewarding career. There is no place for “alternative medicine”.

henrywronger is based in Mumbai, India according to some of his forum profiles (found by checking some of the extensive trace of him on the internet) and IP trace suggests this is likely to be accurate. He is listed on the StopForumSpam website.

I have serious concerns about the “Immunotherapy” claims in the blogspot and elsewhere, particularly as it is publishing and advertising/promoting Cancer treatments “in the UK”.

I am intrigued by the statement “A string of published findings have illustrated the effects of adoptive immune therapy in cancer patients.” which are carefully not quoted or otherwise referred to in this blogspot anywhere.

I have been impressed by the high level of wibble and woo in this blogspot (and elsewhere in various forum postings), including this particular gem, which rates highly (IMO) in using Medical Terms That Sound Good with woo:
“Envita Natural Medical Center established in Mexico is utilizing NK cells and CTLs in real time as immunotherapy treatment for colon cancer and stage 4 cancer patients. Envita’s proprietary immune therapy vaccine is appropriately labeled AAIT (for autologous adoptive immune therapy,) and there are 4 major cell types involved – the significant majority being natural killer cells and T cells. The types of cells that make up Envita’s treatment include Natural Killer cells, Natural killer T cells, Cytokine-induced killer cells, and Cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

The vaccine(s) is created by expanding a patient’s own antitumor immune cells into mega amounts. These cells are then analyzed for activation markers and highlighted for their ability to destroy colon cancer and other stage 4 cancer cells under controlled lab conditions, then re-infused into the patient.”

Envita’s own website: http://www.envita.com/conditions-we-treat/cancer/immunotherapy and http://www.envita.com/about-envita
“The only clinic of its kind, Envita offers an extensive array of advanced natural treatments from all over the world under one roof. We combine these treatment options with the best of conventional medicine to offer our patients comprehensive and complete treatment programs. By bridging the best of what’s available in both natural and conventional medicine, we provide a cutting-edge approach to care that gives our patients the advantage.” and so on

I would be grateful if you could cast your informed and learned eye on this organisation and the efficacy (or otherwise) of this “Autologous Adoptive Immune Therapy” as part of your ongoing campaign to help prevent desparate people being separated from their cash or worse

Has the evidence changed recently regarding Kaloba as a ‘cure’ for colds? Read your article from 2008, but I’ve been seeing it in the newspapers now saying that it has been found to be anti-viral, approved for use in Australia etc.

While you are writing about quackery write an article about yourself – you are the biggest quack I’ve read anything from in ages. Guys like you are exactly what is wrong with the internet…misinformed on so many levels yet feeling the need to stand up and spread the word! It’s the old cliche of giving a moron a microphone and an audience. You’re life is sadly boiling down to little more than propagating half truths and ludicrous malicious attacks without becoming informed regarding the research on the topics you chirp about.

Hi Andy, I just saw a quote from osteopathy’s Dr. Still. Trying to quote it.. “The “Primary Respiratory Mechanism” is an expression of all life, manifested in motion and energy – motion as described as intelligent and persistent in living organisms. “God manifests Himself in matter, motion and mind.” THEN, his fellow osteopath, Dr. W.G. Sutherland, states: “the cerbrospinal fluid bears and transmits the “breath of life”. These teachers maintain that the brain and the spinal cord squirm around – on their own – and these movements can be “detected” by osteopaths who have “skilled perception” (sensing things that cannot be detected by scientific instrumentation!).. and that their “thinking, seeing, feeling, knowing fingers” can then mold the shape of the patient’s head. !! Et cetera.

Can you please come clean about your relationship to Steiner Education? You clearly have an axe to grind.

Anthroposophy is NEVER taught in Steiner Schools. Steiner was writing in 1930s Germany, a world away from today. I recently read a manual from a singer sewing machine circa 1950 which said that before I started to sew, I should ensure that all the beds were made and that I was wearing a clean dress, powder and lipstick just incase my husband might come home early. According to your logic I had better avoid sewing incase I turn into my grandmother!

Religion is not pushed in any way at Steiner Schools. My children’s teachers were 1 Muslim, 1 Buddhist, 1 Christian, 3 of no religion (one very spiritual the other two pretty much heathen). None of my children have turned religious despite going to a Steiner school and worse than that being brought up Roman Catholic. Have you got a page about catholics too? We are a bit quackers. What about the muslims, do you rubbish their beliefs too?

And by the way, my second daughter is an anatomist and doing very well BECAUSE of her Steiner education not in spite of it.

If you have actually read my articles you will know that the statement “Anthroposophy is NEVER taught in Steiner Schools” is thoroughly misleading. Steiner Schools are the living practice of Anthroposophy. Everything in them is based on Anthroposophy, from its childhood philosophy, its pedagogy, the art, crafts, dance and curriculum. To somehow try to deny the anthroposophical nature of the schools is thoroughly dishonest – which is why I oppose them. Parents need to be informed.

I don’t think anyone is denying anything. Books written by and about Steiner are readily available – no one is hiding them. Believe me parents who send their children to Steiner Schools are usually very well informed. Many families are making big financial sacrifices in order to send their children to Steiner Schools, most of which receive no state funding. They do this for many reasons one being because they want their children to develop at their own pace without the pressures of exam-focussed education. My statement “Anthroposophy is NEVER taught in Steiner Schools” is not misleading at all, it is simply a statement of fact.

The curriculum is indeed based on Anthroposophy which I understand to mean ‘the knowledge of mankind’. At its most basic level it says that just as a foetus mirrors human evolution developing from a single cell through an aquatic like state then budding limbs etc until they reach a human form. So children develop in a way that mirrors evolution so they push themselves up by the arms (reptilian) then onto all fours (mammalian) then finally pull themselves to the upright human form, looking rather ape-like on the way up. We should not force this or make the child run before they can walk. The Steiner School curriculum then goes on to mirror human development so for instance when the children are 11 they study the greek culture and do a traditional olympics at this age children are very ‘greek’ ( binary) in their thinking – things are either wrong or right; you are either with me or against me. When they get to 13/14 and hit puberty they study the explorers and revolution. There is a ‘revolution’ going on inside them and they are about to out into the world, into the unknown. This curriculum is AMAZING!

What is your experience of Steiner Schools? Have you ever visited one? I would be more than happy to show you around ours if you are interested.

Tracey – I would be happy if the schools websites etc made it quite clear that the schooling was based on Anthroposophy and then described in detail what that meant. Instead they use misleading phrases like you did “We do not teach Anthroposophy”.

None of the spiritual, mystical, crypto-religious beliefs are explained. Nothing about Steiner’s views on how children needed to be guided through their incarnation, nothing on the gnostic Christianity. Nothing about the reason eurythmy is taught – every day. Some parents obviously do not know – and when they find out get very angry. They also get frightened when they realise their children are not learning anything.

I do my bit to make sure future parents are informed. They can make a decision based on an understanding of Steiner’s worldview – and how Anthroposophists try to obscure their agenda within the school. I shall keep doing so whilst these schools remain occult in their nature.

You didn’t answer my question, have you ever visited a Steiner School? Would you like to? I am a parent at such a school and I do not feel that anything has been kept from me or that there is any hidden agenda.

I would also like to point out that although the word ‘occult’ now has a sinister connotation and is associated with witchcraft; back in Steiner’s days it would simply have been used to describe anything that was not of the physical world. If you think that a human being is no more than the physical body you can see, that is a perfectly legitimate belief, but there are plenty of people who believe we are more than that and I am one of them. We are entitled to to that belief just as you are entitled to yours. Incidentally we have plenty of parents who are atheist and agnostic and humanist at our school too. They choose Steiner education because it is fantastic.

To say that parents “realise their children are not learning anything” is utterly ridiculous not to say libellous – where is your evidence? We have alumni who have gone on to be doctors, mathematicians, physicists, anatomists, teachers, artists, musicians, blacksmiths, entrepreneurs and I could go on and on. I don’t know of any alumni who have gone on to be anthroposophists probably because we don’t teach that.

Your comments about our teaching of art are also woefully mis-informed. One year 2 of our alumni were told that their A’Level art results put them in the top 5 in the country and we have many alumni who have gone on to study art at some of the top art colleges in the country.

It is so easy to criticise things and pull them apart. I am sure there are plenty of parents who could furnish you with horror stories about their children’s experiences in mainstream education – do you have a page for them? Do you think that Gove might possibly have a hidden agenda for our children when he recommends that they start school younger and younger despite all the evidence that shows this is counterproductive?

What makes you happy Andy? Do you ever see anything positive in the world? Does anything meet your very strict criteria? I would love to know.

So Tracey. My research on Steiner Schools has involved talking to and meeting a large number of parents, pupils and teachers of Steiner education in real life and by correspondence. My criticisms of Steiner schools are such that no amount of visits to a school would make any difference. What I want Steiner Schools to do are to be open about the nature of Anthroposophy and how it influences their educational approach.

Occult does not mean ‘not of the physical world’. it means ‘hidden’. It does now and it did then when Steiner was using it. Steiner described an esoteric world view that could be known by initiates. This world was occulted from ordinary people and could only be revealed by a spiritual journey. This is why schools do not talk about such things on their web site and why parents are misled.

By the way, how do you know nothing has been hidden from you?

It does amaze me that supporters of Anthroposophical education think that because I criticise it then I must be deficient in some way, that I cannot be ‘happy’. What arrogant nonsense! My criticisms are very straightforward with nothing hidden and no agenda beyond what I explicitly say.

Have you read any of my articles Tracey? Can you point out anywhere where I am incorrect? My feeling is people who condemn me for writing my article have never read any of them.

“To say that parents “realise their children are not learning anything” is utterly ridiculous not to say libellous – where is your evidence?”

Tracey, I think you should get out more – you don’t seem to know much about Waldorf education. Here’s just a sampling… I have collected hundreds of these – exactly for people who ask “where is your evidence”. 😉

http://thewaldorfreview.blogspot.com/2012/05/emerson-waldof-school-reviews-by.html
Posted September 7, 2011
Please do not send your child to this school unless you don’t care about his/her well being or quality of education. It is by far the worst school in the district. The high school is a joke and if you send your child there, be prepared to spend a lot of money on tutors since your child will not learn much from the very unqalified teachers there. —Submitted by a parent

Posted February 18, 2011
This school is terrible. Don’t send your child here. They brainwash children and parents slowly until you realize it one day and it’s too late. After being 4 years in this school, my child was so behind in academics that I had to hire a private tutor before transferring him to a different private school. It’s a fun school for kids, but strong academics is just not its strongest point. Please, do a lot of outside research before sending your child to this school.
—Submitted by a parent

Lib 365 07/02/2011
DO NOT believe their website
As a parent with a child that was in grade 2 and 3 at… read more grade in reading. After a year and a half, her math and reading skills declined. She didn’t learn anything of real substance in history or science. Waldorf is based on unproven ideas of a man Ruldof Steiner, who didn’t have children or an education in either early childhood education or child psychology. Steiner’s decision to teach reading in second grade is based on children loosing baby teeth, not any concrete studies on child reading readiness. Student evaluations is like reading an astrological chart, with statements like “not fully reincarnated in body”, instead of useful evaluations on academic progress. You, as the parent, will never be told by RWS whether your child is doing well academically or not. There is no quantitative evaluation, no recording of grades. The children do not have modern school aids (handouts, workbooks, worksheets). Instead, the students copy black boards full of teacher written
narratives and a drawing that the students must copy. This comprises of the “main lesson”, which is usually a myth or from the bible, rather than real history or real science. There are better private schools here in Richmond that have real certified teachers that will teach your child to read, write and a solid foundation and mastery of math. Please do not send your child to this school.

http://thewaldorfreview.blogspot.com/2012/05/portland-village-school-charter-reviews.html
Posted April 21, 2012
The parent reviews sum up this school well. For those that value alternative Waldorf methods and community, no homework, do not mind the no media at school and home policy (no TV, Movies, computers and images on clothing/lunchboxes/backpacks), this is a great school. For those that value academics, discipline, learning about technology, and enabling your child to have things in common with and be comfortable relating to kids outside the small Waldorf community, this is not the school for you. For example of the latter, attending a friend’s birthday party at Chuck’E’Cheezes is not in keeping with the School’s Waldorf methods. Also, be sure to check the School’s report card on the Oregon Department of Education Website. I found the School’s performance claims to be inaccurate. —Submitted by a parent

http://thewaldorfreview.blogspot.com/2012/05/ocean-charter-school-reviews-by-parents.html
Posted February 6, 2010 – I think that there is a large difference between the lower grades and the upper ones at Ocean. While I really like the ‘whole child’ approach in the younger grades, the upper grades suffer from the lack of rigor in the academics. The upper grades are well behind other schools in mathematics
and writing, and they rarely do such basic things as book reports. Considering this continues through the 8th grade, the students are seriously disadvantaged when they move on to the high school level. While I will agree that parent involvement is high, the parent body (and students as well) are very cliquish. In addition, while they mean well, the parents are completely disorganized. Events such as field trips or even day trips are always thrown haphazardly
together at the last minute, or cancelled due to lack of planning.

“My statement “Anthroposophy is NEVER taught in Steiner Schools” is not misleading at all, it is simply a statement of fact.”

You don’t say… Did you know that Steiner believed Eurythmy is the embodiment of Anthroposophy? It’s the “children’s” version. The spiritual movements of Eurythmy are intended to fill the children’s souls with Anthroposophy. Just to refresh the memory of readers, Eurythmy is mandatory for every child – every day, in every grade, in every Waldorf school. Here’s Steiner on the subject:

“I speak in all humility when I say that within the Anthroposophical Movement there is a firm conviction that a spiritual impulse of this kind must now, at the present time, enter once more into human evolution. And this spiritual impulse must perforce, among its other means of expression, embody itself in a new form of art. It will increasingly be realised that this particular form of art has been given to the world in Eurythmy.

It is the task of Anthroposophy to bring a greater depth, a wider vision and a more living spirit into the other forms of art. But the art of Eurythmy could only grow up out of the soul of Anthroposophy; could only receive its inspiration through a purely Anthroposophical conception.”

From Rudolf Steiner’s “Lecture on Eurythmy” August 26, 1923

Anthroposophists believe Eurythmy can be used to cure health problems, straighten teeth, any number of things. So the spiritual significance of connecting Eurythmy to the students is considerable among Anthroposophists. But, again, none of this is explained to parents.

What else is pure Anthroposophy in Waldorf? How about the Temperaments?

“If you put on a play, you should cast the characters according to the temperaments of your students. You might, for example, ask your cholerics to play Julius Caesar, and you might cast your sanguines as the messengers, since they would enjoy running in and out with the news. The melancholics love philosophical roles. … The phlegmatics, on the other hand, like the parts where they can sit and think, removed from the central action of the play.”

(From “Waldorf Education – A Family Guide” – p. 65-66 The Role of Temperament in Understanding the Child by Rene Querido)

Certainly we could mention things like reincarnation – introduced in the kindergarten as the “rainbow bridge” birthday story – children in heaven choosing their parents and coming down the rainbow bridge to meet them. Ever wonder why the small children make paper butterflies? Butterflies “reincarnate” when they come out of the cocoon.

Fairy tales in the 1st grade. These are not watered down fairy tales – they are Grimms fairy tales as they were written originally – intended to produce archetypal images – Good and Evil, so important in Anthroposophy. Lots of black and white references too (Mother Holle, etc.). 2nd grade, stories of the saints will include visitations by angels and such. But then we go further into angel images and references in stories. By the third grade, Old testament is taught – and why not – Steiner references this stuff regularly in Anthroposophy. Genesis, especially, is important for children to know in order to understand Anthroposophy when they get older. 4th and 5th grades, Norse myths, Greek myths, Egyptian myths, Oriental myths – lots of creation mythology here. Of course Steiner had his own creation myth. Maybe it will be more acceptable later in life with this background in other myths. 5th grade, we also have ancient history, ancient cultural geography – by 5th grade, kids may know all about Atlantis and Lemuria. It looks to me like the Waldorf curriculum may preparing the children for the acceptance of Anthroposophy.

Of course you’ve lost Tracey, Pete. That’s because she lost you right at the start. You don’t have to be an anthroposophist to decide whether the practices of Steiner education are appropriate for your kids, just like you don’t have to be a Catholic to send your kids to a Catholic school. So please don’t go on and on. You’ve done enough of that already.

I stumbled into here by mistake and feel as though I have wandered into some parallel universe full of pedants. Patronising Pete and Angry Andy are a bit scarey so I will slowly back away now without making any sudden moves.

“You don’t have to be an anthroposophist to decide whether the practices of Steiner education are appropriate for your kids, just like you don’t have to be a Catholic to send your kids to a Catholic school.”

Any chance a parent might not know what they’re signing up for with a Catholic school Dave?

“You’ve done enough of that already.”

Waldorf can get me off their backs EASILY. They could easily do my job for me by being HONEST with parents. They’ve chosen the dishonest path instead. I find that disgusting.

As a history of medicine scholar, I am really interested in this site. I love to research quack doctory – especially of the 18th century. You may want to add Roy Porter’s book, “The Quack Doctor”.

If you ever need help deciphering why incorrect sciences were taught in the 18th century, please look me up. Not all of their medicine was ‘quackery’. In fact, most of it was based off of thousands of years of research; they just had not gotten to the point that we’re at now.

I have provided you with an insight into the support given to Homeopathy by the Government of India which is in stark contrast to the diminishing support given by the NHS in the UK. This is the main theme of the programme and I am proposing that you, as an opponent of Homeopathy be given the opportunity to make your case. if you are not interested, then please let me know.

The intervention of Alan Henness into this discussion has created a new dimension, particularly in light of his considered response to my interview with Dr Satinder P S Bakshi. Maybe he would care to share his thoughts to camera, on behalf of the Nightingale Collaboration, in which I would be interested as to why he singled that interview to comment on and in particular what specific part of the interview he considered to be “Quackery” To sum it up, I would prefer to continue this conversation in the public domain.

I read elsewhere about the problems with truly informed ethical consent. Can you really have ethical approval for a homeopathic clinical trial when you know full well you are wasting time, money and possibly trust?

You are clearly uninformed, biased and unqualified to offer any opinion of alternative treatments. Clearly you are unaware of how many people are killed by drugs every year and those that have hope that the drugs will cure their cancer, will die a worse death. Shame on you for trying to intimidate anyone who has something else to offer than doesn’t line the pockets of the drug companies.

And your own evidence is? And your own qualifications are? And a worse death than what exactly? And an informed and reasoned argument constitutes intimidation of your silly beliefs in what way? And the reason that IKZ and others, probably now including yourself, STILL won’t explain why nobody’s claimed James Randi’s million dollars after all this time by proving what people of your intellectual level claim is self-evident in relation to homeopathy?
Simple question- much too hard for IKZ, which I imagine is why he keeps running away from it every time I ask him.
Concentrate now.
You ready?
Then I’ll begin.
OK – If it’s so self-evident that homeopathy works, then why don’t you prove it to an astonished Scientific world, and retire on the consequent money.

Colin Farley -I only just saw your April posts. As I said some time ago, one utterly, utterly amazing thing that the Woo people do is to suggest, that intelligent people watch this or that Youtube film-e.g ‘The Truth About Cancer’-or check out some idiotic Woosite, safe-they think-in their woodentop belief that nobody will.actually do it. But I did. I watched ‘The Truth About Cancer’, having wondered why Andy didn’t get back to you. Now I know.
Basically, I think it’s because it’s not worth trying to argue with someone of your intellectual level.There’s no point. There’s no gain. Are you seriously proposing ‘The Truth About Cancer’ as your strongest argument?

Barrie- As I did not watch the programme, I am unable to make any meaningful response: however, it would seem from the tone of your belated post, that you are an expert on the subject of cancer and maybe you would like to share your expert knowledge with us “wooden tops” in front of a camera. Incidentally, I am aware of a group of eminent homeopaths who went to great lengths to challenge James Randi and film the event; however, Randi pulled out at the last minute with a somewhat lame excuse. I would not advise anyone to go to that effort again as it would be a waste of time and money which I doubt is genuinely on offer!

First, I simply don’t believe the James Randi story for one second. It’s completely made up.Evidence please. Not that I will waste time waiting. He didn’t pull out of any before. Why this time?
As to the money -as is well known, it’s been lodged with lawyers and has been validated as genuine.
What’s an eminent homeopath? Is that like a magnificent unicorn?
I equally wouldn’t advise any homeopath to go to such an effort. But for different reasons.
As to whether or not I am an expert on cancer -will you people ever get it into your skulls that one does not need to be an expert on that or anything else to perceive dodgy logic, twisted and cherry-picked data, or what Steve Martin call;s ‘lies and made-up facts’?
Finally -why on Earth quote a film which you imply is going to be an argument clincher, and then admit you’ve never even seen it yoursellf? Have you looked into the background of the people in it, especially the Polish crackpot?

I always read your blog during my lunch break. However, having cleared my
browsing history, I had to do a search to find it. I was shocked to find that
when I searched for ‘Quackometer’, or ‘Quackometer blog’, the site did not
appear, though I hunted through several pages of listings. There seem to be a
number of sites calling themselves ‘Quackometer’ which claim to be for those
‘falsely accused of being a quack’. Other links led to sites which were blocked
by my security program, or to irrelevant sites, or to references to your blog on
other sites. I finally found you by looking on Twitter.

Can you do anything about this? I am posting at as a comment as the email address above didn’t work.

Dear Mr Lewis. I recently made comment on your Steiner thread. While I note that you regrettably elected to not reply and discontinued the discussion, I thought hit you might find this (related) data interesting. Context: it formed part of a lecture I delivered over the weekend relating to the global trend towards convergent thinking and collective cognitive dissonance in society. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/355271/education-spending-soars-test-scores-stagnate-deroy-murdock. While these stats relate to the USA specifically, the trend is fairly ubiquitous across the globe..for those who care to look it up. Whatever this sites views on Steiner model, it is evident that faith in compulsory state schooling is deeply misplaced. Regards

Dear Anonymous. Being anonymous, it is of course difficult to trace what comment you are talking about. TO address your point, (although it is difficult to fathom a coherent thought here), whatever problems you might perceive in public schooling, Steiner education is not the default answer. You have to make a positive case for Steiner education – good luck with that.

I was wondering if you have heard of any attempts to replicate Luc Montagnier’s controversial study of electromagnetism and DNA. I haven’t found anything myself, and I’m a bit surprised since it doesn’t look like he used especially expensive equipment in his research. I thought the whole thing would have been quickly killed off by failure of replication (as in the table-top-cold-fusion-debacle) but instead it looks like interest in the study just withered away without anyone dealing it an empirical death-blow.

This site definitley needs to be removed from the internet. Anything standing in the way of the truth about the Gerson Therapy is contributing to the sufferening of millions of cancer patients as well as other unfortunate disease sufferer’s around the world.

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH PEOPLE. THIS SITE IS NOTHING BUT MISINFORMED IGNORANCE AND THE OWNERS WILL SOON BE FEELING VERY SILLY IN THE COMING YEARS AS THE TRUTHS ABOUT COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERPAIES CONTINUE TO EMERGE INTO COMMON KNOWLEDGE AND BECOME ACCEPTED

I was just checking out your website, and was very impressed with the quality, look and feel.

I’m sure you have seen a lot of companies are starting to add animated videos to their websites, social media and YouTube pages to help explain their services in a fun, clear and engaging way. I think a 60-90 second animated video would be a perfect way for you to get your companies message across to more potential clients.

Have listened to two of your books – very interesting indeed to hear someone talking about the details at a clearly explained technical leve.

I have a comment – I agree that alternative therapies are often no better than placebo in trials. If Placebo effects can be beneficial in some cases, even if it is limited, would it be useful to have such treatments available. The problem is that there are no NHS provided placebo treatments as far as I know.

A related observation is how can you know the effects of a Placebo in trials since the control group would be….what?